OUR MISSION – One Voice Nashville builds bridges and closes gaps by valuing all voices through storytelling and narrative journalism.
OUR NAME – While we all have different stories to share, we have more in common than we think. Through One Voice Nashville programs, curriculum, and workshops, students and community members are empowered to find that human connection that exists in every story … that One Voice.
One Voice Nashville (OVN) was created out of a love for story.
Mary Margaret Randall
OVN founder, Mary Margaret Randall, has always been drawn to a good story – whether told from a neighbor or friend, or expressed in music, art, dance, film, or radio.
During her time studying at the University of Alabama, Mary Margaret founded the Black Warrior Storytelling Festival, the first-ever local event focused on sharing stories from across the state of Alabama. For her Senior Project in the New College program at UA, Mary Margaret collected and recorded stories from foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement in her hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. It was this project that revealed the power of community storytelling, and she has not looked back since.
Mary Margaret made the move to Nashville following college and has fallen in love with the city and its commitment to the arts. She has worked with youth in programming at schools all around the city and is passionate about the crossroads between education and creativity.
Mary Margaret has a Masters Degree in Organizational Leadership from Trevecca University and loves nothing more than to pull up a chair and listen to a story.
Meet our Founding Board Members!
Clark Buckner
Clark Buckner is a B2B podcaster, content marketer and co-founder of Nashville based podcast production agency Relationary Marketing. He is an active volunteer in Nashville’s tech community with local events and meet-ups. He also serves on staff as Podcast Lead at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center. He enjoys spending time with his wife Hope and their 8lb. dog Saasy.
Kate Tucker
Kate is a filmmaker, songwriter, producer and performing artist. She is creative director for BriteHeart, a civic advocacy platform that connects individuals with organizations and organizations with resources.
Natasha Deane
Board Chair
Natasha Deane, PhD., is a former cancer researcher and faculty member at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Since her retirement in 2016, Natasha became involved with local civic leadership boards, including Greenways for Nashville and the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee Task Force for Racial Reconciliation. In her anti-racism work, Natasha has become deeply involved in researching the role of the church in Nashville’s Civil Rights history in middle Tennessee and through this investigative and storytelling work discovered OVN’s “Witness Walls” project before joining the OVN board.
Nerissa Aquino
Nerissa has a background in dance performance, human services and worked in a variety of non-profit organization helping low-income individuals and families. She has served on Volunteer Tennessee’s board of commissioners and the Metro Arts commission’s first REAL (Race Equity in the Arts Leadership) cadre. She sees how OVN can make an impact in her hometown of Nashville and will support OVN in its programming, outreach, and development.